Providence strikes gas off Cork

Providence Resources has found gas at its Barryroe asset off the Cork coast, just a week after hitting oil in the same area.

Test work at the sixth well to be drilled at the Barryroe site showed a gas-bearing zone producing initial flows of 1,350 barrels of oil per day. Preliminary estimates showed a full-flow rate of 3,350 barrels.

Providence chief executive Tony O’Reilly Jr said the find did not change the company’s focus on Barryroe being first and foremost an oil project, with an additional gas element a “very encouraging” bonus. He said the gas zone was “far more productive” than the company anticipated.